Raiders + Rocketeer + Saving Private Ryan = Captain America

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 10th, 2009

The director of The Incredible Hulk, Louis Leterrier, recently did an interview with the LA Times on his set for the remake Clash of the Titans.

The LAT reporter asked about a sequel to the Hulk, something we’ve all been wanting to know since the movie grossed similar figures to the widely panned original Hulk.  Leading up to its relatively lackluster release, Leterrier was constantly defending his new vision for the Marvel hero against an army of skeptics and Edward Norton’s public disapproval, an experience the director calls “such a challenge.”

Leterrier confirmed there are no follow-up plans by saying, “Well, so far, no. I am contracted to do one more film with Marvel so when I’m done here with this I will go back to say to them, ‘Guys you need me? Is there something I can do?’”

When pressed further about another Hulk, he said he’d rather not make another one but loves working with Marvel.  “If I come back I’d love to do another superhero, something different that I can really put my touch on.” Might I suggest Samuel L. Jackson’s stand-alone movie as Nick Fury?  Perhaps Ant-Man?

Or what about The Avengers superhero combo? The fan favorite is still Jon Favreau after what he’s done with the Iron Man franchise, but the director’s chair is still officially open.  To this Leterrier says he’d love to do the Avengers film and work with Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige again.  Meanwhile, Norton has dodged questions about the Hulk appearing in the scheduled summer 2012 release.

Leterrier said he was a fan of the Captain America character, but The First Avenger: Captain America is already being handled by Joe Johnston.  The Frenchman told the times he’s seen the design work and it looks amazing.

He described it as “a period piece” like Raiders of the Lost Ark but “with more gadgets…”  Leterrier later added, “It’s Raiders meets Rocketeer and Saving Private Ryan.”  Captain America’s director, Joe Johnston, was the art director on the Indiana Jones film and helmed The Rocketeer.  The Spielberg comparison is only natural considering the WWII setting.  No lead actor has been picked for Captain America.  I’m curious how Marvel plans to market this movie overseas…

Finally, Leterrier unveiled his own vision for the Avengers.  He wants to make four movies that are each released about a month apart over the summer.  Each filmmaker from the Marvel series would direct a piece of the interconnected story arc.  It’s an ambitious idea, but full of logistic problems.  Getting all the heroes together for one film is going to be tough enough for Marvel, but four?

For more details read the entire article from the LA Times.